Publisher's Synopsis
Based on the proceedings of a UCLA colloquium held in Taos,;New Mexico in 1989, this title discusses mechanisms underlying early mammalian growth and development and certain aspects of maternal-embryonic interactions. Devoted largely to the physiology of preimplantation embryos, the text emphasizes mechanisms of genetic regulation that underlie early developmental processes. In examining the signals involved in successful implantation, it also considers the maternal component, the decidua and endometrium. The result is a major contribution to recent progress in the study of nutrient transport across the plasma membrane, as well as the development and application of the reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) that has facilitated analysis of mRNA transcripts in extremely small amounts of tissue.
